1984 Revisited: Cork hurlers evoke comparisons with French

Cork were clean-cut in comparison, but every bit as dynamic. The haircuts on Leesiders were a little more on the conservative side. The moustachioed Denis Mulcahy looked like a baddie in a Spaghetti western. 

Seanie O’Leary, quiet and unassuming on the edge of the bench. If you didn’t know Jimmy Barry Murphy, you’d be forgiven for mistaking him for a normal human being. The team photo I remember was in a commemorative annual published to celebrate the GAA’s centenary. It lingered around our house so long that it was being re-read years later, as if new.

After a golden period in the mid-1970s — which saw Cork win three in a row from 1976 to 1978 — the team had gone six years without landing the ultimate prize. The lack of success was compounded by back-to-back All-Ireland final defeats to Kilkenny in 1982 and 1983. 

Sport often matters more during times of existential woe, and with both Dunlop and Ford closing in the city, any silverware would boost morale. The hurlers obliged as John Fenton captained that Cork team to All-Ireland victory over Offaly in Semple Stadium. It was the first time Liam MacCarthy was raised outside Croke Park since 1937, a welcome tonic for a county where six years of winning nothing represented a ‘famine’.

On the third Sunday in September, Kerry won the football championship following a 0–14 to 1–6 defeat of Dublin in the centenary final. Dublin's Barney Rock was the championship's top scorer and Kerry's Jack O'Shea was the choice for Texaco Footballer of the Year.

In association football, Liverpool dominated domestic competition in England, winning the League and League Cup under Joe Fagan. They also won the European Cup, defeating AS Roma on penalties. Shamrock Rovers won back-to-back League of Ireland titles. Diego Maradona — after a disastrous spell at Barcelona — made a career-defining switch to sleeping giants Napoli.

Despite having a strong squad including the likes of Paul McGrath, Ronnie Whelan and Liam Brady, the Republic of Ireland came up short in qualifying for Euro ‘84.

The French team entered the European Championships as hosts and justified favourites. On the face of it, they were a collection of racially diverse outliers and misfits. In reality, they were a bunch of footballing geniuses. The suave Marius Trésor at the back. Midfielders Alain Giresse, Jean Tigana and Bernard Genghini conducting the orchestra. Didier Six leading the line. And, hidden amongst them, the majestic Michel Platini, arguably the world's best footballer at the time. 

This was a team that looked as cool as it played. France were drawn in an incredibly difficult group against Yugoslavia, Denmark and Belgium. They emerged with maximum points and Platini in the form of his life. After defeating Portugal in a classic, they destroyed Spain in the final. Essentially, the victory remains a crowning glory for football played the right way. 

Ten years previously, the ‘Total Football’ model was spoiled by the Germans. In 1978, something similar happened when the Dutch were beaten by the ‘cynical’ Argentina. In 1982, pragmatism won out again in the form of Germany and the dastardly Harold Schumacher getting the better of the organic brilliance of the French in the semi-finals while the majestic Brazilians suffered defeat at the hands of the Italians. 

In 1984, the right team won for a change. Also, there was that glorious jersey.

After the US, along with 60 other countries, boycotted the Russian-hosted Olympics in 1980, Russia would decide to repay the favor four years later in Los Angeles. It may have been a smart decision for the Soviets as the US dominated the Games of the XXIII Olympiad.

Carl Lewis took four gold medals in track and field, Mary Lou Rhetton became the first American to win gold in gymnastics as a record 140 nations showed up to witness the first privately financed Olympics that would profit over $215 million, a ridiculous amount for the time.

In addition, we saw a first taste of the Dream Team as a US basketball squad comprised solely of college players took the court with a young Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, and Chris Mullen. They would be the last college-led team to win the gold medal.

So dominant were the host nations it was dubbed as the American Gold Rush. Their 83 gold medals were more than the next five countries combined, and their total medal count of 174 dwarfed the second place West Germany’s total of 59.

Ireland’s only medal came via the diminutive, long distance runner John Treacy, whose debut marathon time of 2:09:56 won him a remarkable silver medal. As he entered the Los Angeles Coliseum, RTÉ commentator Jimmy Magee listed the previous Irish Olympic medal winners up to that time, before culminating: "And for the 13th time, an Olympic medal goes to John Treacy from Villierstown in Waterford, the little man with the big heart.” 

Treacy’s silver medal time, incidentally, would have been good enough to win gold in 1988, and also in 1992, in 1996, in 2000 and in the 2004 Olympic marathon.

The 1984 Open Championship was won by Seve Ballesteros at the Old Course in St Andrews. Ben Crenshaw had captured the Masters earlier in the year, with Fuzzy Zoeller claiming the US Open, and the ever popular Lee Trevino winning the PGA. The British amateur championship went to a young Spaniard called José María Olazábal.

On the hard courts of the NBA, the Boston Celtics, led by a possessed Larry Bird, rallied to beat Magic Johnson's LA Lakers. High in the Alpes d'Huez, Waterford man Sean Kelly finished fifth behind local favourite Laurent Fignon in the Tour de France.

In Rugby Union, Ireland capped a disastrous Five Nations campaign by capturing the wooden spoon, losing every game.